Improvements coming to Tempe-Ahwatukee Republic

You want stories about how the folks at Tempe and Phoenix city halls are spending your money and how your schools are teaching your children. Accountability is among your passions and watchdog journalism is among ours.

Growth, development and transportation in your communities are big.

You want to know what's happening along Tempe Town Lake and Mill Avenue, and on the South Mountain Freeway and the former Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Club site.

You want to know about the safety of your neighborhoods as Tempe and Ahwatukee continue to grow.

You know that Tempe soon will be growing up, not out, and you want to know the plan.

You know, and as a resident since 1984, so do I, that Ahwatukee is a vibrant community. You want to know about the good things in "the Tuke," and in Tempe — and there are plenty of stories to tell.

And you want to have fun, whether it's going to a concert at Tempe Beach Park, a morning at the Ahwatukee farmers market, discovering a new place to eat — or testing your brain on a puzzle.

A few weeks ago, we asked you to take a reader survey. We wanted to know what you want most from your Tempe-Ahwatukee Republic and news from both communities on azcentral.com.

Now, we would like to show our appreciation. Starting today, your Tempe-Ahwatukee Republic has a new, more engaging look.

We have made improvements based on your feedback to further entice you:

Tempe and Southeast Valley police and fire officials will answer your questions in our new column, Ask a Cop or Ask a Firefighter, every Wednesday.

Look for history columns about Tempe every Friday from our walking Tempe encyclopedia, Jay Mark.

Our Community Living pages on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays offer good news submitted by readers like you and from organizations on events, people and places. Send submissions to me at the address below for publication consideration.

Since we discontinued Letters to the Editor and My Turns about a year ago, our phones have not stopped ringing. You've made your point. The Opinions page is back every Saturday. If you are passionate about a particular topic, you are invited to expand your submission beyond a Letter to the Editor and send us a My Turn of about 650 words.

Southeast Valley dining news in the region will be in every Saturday.

Puzzle lovers get a new brain teaser, KenKen, and all of the puzzles and comics move to one page. In response to your requests, we moved the answers to another page.

Old favorites, such as local health experts, restaurant inspections, police calls and top home sales, will still be here for you.

Want to submit a My Turn or Letter to the Editor? E-mail it to me at lee.shappell@arizonarepublic.com and put "Opinions" in the subject line. Have a question of your police or fire department? Send it to me in an e-mail to the same address with "Public Safety" in the subject line. Got good news to share? Same e-mail address, "Community living" in the subject line.

Have a news tip, or anything else you want to tell me about our work? Once again, e-mail me.

So I know what you're thinking: You're thinking, "Lee, with all of these improvements, how do I subscribe to the Arizona Republic to get all of the news in the Tempe-Ahwatukee Republic or on azcentral.com?" I am so pleased you asked. Dial 602-444-1000.

We are happy to deliver more of what you asked for. We'll keep working on it. Please let us know what you think.